The Season End Review

So little more than 12 hours after the final ball was kicked I bring you news that the under 18's won their final match of the season by beating Sheffield Rangers 12-0 to successfully defend their league title.  Congratulations to Richard and the ladies on a remarkable achievement in winning league titles (WRGFL and SHGCL) for 3 successive seasons and in reaching 3 successive cup finals - a really fitting end to both a campaign and a team as they move through properly to open-age football and all the challenges that brings.

On Saturday the Under 10's won the SHGCL cup final against Beighton Magpies registering a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Jordan Cheetham, although obviously the rest of the team had a big part in the victory as well!  The match was play ed at a high tempo in really warm weather and the heat undeniably took it's toll as players from both teams tired due to the conditions.  The Belles proved to be the stronger team though and thoroughly deserve to be unbeaten league and cup double holders in their first season... now the hard work begins defending that status next season ladies!

The Under 12's found it a game too far in their cup-final against Middlewood Rovers.  The Belles led 2-0 at one stage before going down 4-3 at the final whistle, with the Belles playing the better football for the main part although one goal from Middlewood in particular was outstanding quality.  Congratulations to Middlewood for their double win, the work to overtake them starts this Wednesday for the Under 12's and it'll be interesting to see whether any of the Middlewood players come to our trials.

The Under 16's represented the County FA in the Northern Regional final of the Tesco Cup at Wythenshawe, Manchester on Saturday.  It's a big honour to go through to the 'Tesco's' as all competing teams are cup winners from their respective Co unty FA's, therefore there should be no easy matches.  It's disappointing in the extreme that finals of national tournaments should be officiated without sufficient linesmen/referee's assistants and even more so that matches kick off with only one linesman before the opposing manager is suddenly appointed as the other official - but hey-ho! that's apparently what passes for fairness in the Red Rose county.  Commiserations to the Belles, then that in the face of all of this they lost to a home county team (Manchester City) due to a goal resulting from multiple offsides.  That goal separated the teams and although the Belles then registered wins throughout the rest of the day ending with the best goal difference, Manchester city progressed and ultimately won through to the national final. Nevertheless the Belles ended up with a very creditable 3rd place and everybody knows that City had a hollow victory!

This has been a very good season for the club both on the field and off it.  Of our 7 junior teams, 3 of them have won their respective leagues (Under 10's Under 16's and Under 18's) 2 other age groups finished in second place (Under 12's and Under 13's) The Under 15's finished 3rd in a very strong division and the Under 11's finished in 4th place, playing some amazing football along the way but paying the price for inconsistency, (which you'd expect at the younger end of the club).  In the cup competition, we fared just as well with the Under 10's and Under 16's winning their cup finals and the Under 12's, Under 15's and Under 18's being losing finalists.  The Under 13's were beaten semi-finalists for the second successive season and the Under 11's went out at the quarter-final stages to the eventual league and cup champions Barnsley Ladies, who themselves only lost 2 matches all season.

As far as goal-scorers go, the Under 10's had the league's top scorer in Jordan Cheetham on 34 goals with Arianne Parnham running her close in 3rd place just 2 goals below Jordan.  The Under 11's had Shania Robinson (16 goals) in 9th place and Toyah Perry (14 goals) in 11th place.  The Under 12's saw Charlotte 'Finchy Strider' Finch in 2nd spot on 26 goals, Jamie Allan (17 goals) in 8th place and Lauren Breen (15 goals) in 10th place.  The Under 13's barely registered on the upper ranks of the top scorers with the best for the Belles being registered by Molly Ecott and Niomi Thewlis who came 8th and 9th on 17 goals.  Jess Lacey came 11th (15 goals) and Lori Hudson came 12th on 13 goals for a team which saw every outfield player hit the scoresheet this year.  The Under 15's had Charlotte Cork to thank for their 2nd place goalscorer with a very impressive 32 strikes (just like Dad eh?), with Emma Walker in 10th with 18 goals and Rachel Pritchard in 13th on 16 goals.  The Under 16's had  both gold and Silver medal positions as Olivia Cawdron hit an amazing 36 goals with Kirstie Nicholls getting a tally of 28 for the season. The league winning Under 18's saw Sheffield Wednesday take the top 2 spots registering a fantastic  75 goals between them before Mel Gray came 3rd on 31 goals although at U18's level last night's goals haven't been added yet.  Lorna Mason came 5th on 30 goals, Lauren Earle 7th on 23 goals, Sarah Black 8th on 22 and Steph Prescott 10th on 18 goals.

The Under 10's scored 131 goals and conceded just 9 over their 23 league and cup games.  The Under 11's scored 61, conceding 33 in their 21 matches.  The Under 12's hit 115 goals, conceding 28 throughout their 19 matches.  The Under 13's registered 97 goals and conceded 29 from their 25 matches and the Under 15's hit 107, conceding 45 from 23 matches.  The big beasts in the club the Under 16's and 18's respectively hit 99 and an amazing 207 goals, conceding 18 and 16 from 21 and 26 matches leaving the Under 18's with an overall goal difference of some +193 goals for the season... and they tell you that the Premiership is the most exciting league in the world!

And now to the Presentation nights, tournaments and trials... it never ends!  Goodbye to those who leave us hopefully with fond memories and welcome to those newcomers, who bring all their hopes, expectations and talent.  See you all at the Belles Presentation Night on the 8th of May at the Deaf School (7pm start... don't be late!).

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